this has been a shelf turd of the highest order, and now i am frustrated that it has! such a dynamic and delicious beer, like a german better version of the less harvest stuff. it pours clear honey amber color, dense looking but clean, not much head after a few seconds. the nose is particularly sweet, like caramelized sugars and taffy. nutty too in nose and taste as well, earthy under all that sweet malt, and the alcohol content is as well hidden as it possibly could be. what i lover here is the buttery malt finish with a hint of dry hay and summertime air, even though this works exquisitely in winter, its magically rich and filling, dense body without a much fizz, but its not missing, it drinks like a brandy and improves with temperature. at under 4 bucks a bottle, i am amazed this is still around, pure market ignorance as far as im concerned, i will be buying this frequently as long as the weather stays cold. (924 characters)

Fluorescent burnt orange when backlit with bright afternoon sunshine. The cap is boldly orangish ecru in color and is impressively loud. Snap, crackle and poppin' fizzy, it deflates quickly and is nearly gone at the one minute mark. No softness, no creaminess, no stickiness... no lace. I know that alcohol is a notorious headhunter, but this is ridiculous.

Headless beer has always been fairly aroma-deficient in my experience, from what I assumed was a lack of aerosolization. Then again, there's nothing to get in the way of the beer and my nose. This one has a fair amount of power and resembles nothing so much as Cognac. It's fruity and fusel alcohol-like, not tremendously malty as expected. Perhaps a snifter would have helped elevate the nose past merely above average.

I like it. The flavor is the best attribute so far and since flavor is all-important to me, I can cut the appearance and the smell a great deal of slack. Because I love Big Beer, I love the idea (and often the execution) of the Eisbock process. What could be better than concentrating the flavor of good beer? How about an EisDIPA?

EKU tastes like a cross between beer and liquor. It's single malt whisky-like without any of the wonderful peatiness and only a fraction of the power of that fine elixir. It's also much more fruity, which brings the aforementioned Cognac into the picture. Actually, it's more second-rate California brandy than Remy Martin.

I don't really appreciate any hops and there's a curious lack of sweetness given all the malt. The flavor takes the majority of its cues from lightly spicy alcohol it seems. Aging this beer in wood (for all I know, it was) would do wonders for what is a deep, although not a broad, flavor profile.

The body isn't nearly as full or as plush as the bodies on most Imperial stouts or barleywines. It's big, but it has more of a slick silkiness than a mouth-filling luxuriousness. The fact that there's almost no detectable carbonation doesn't bother me in the least and only adds to the liquor-like mouthfeel.

EKU 28 needs a more exciting name. It could also use a better look, but then I don't care too much about that with beer of this sort. I'm enjoying it more and more as I delve into the final third of the bottle and am enjoying the warmth that is spreading from my stomach outward, despite the heat of the day. I'll have to buy another few bottles for those inevitable subzero Iowa winters. (2,448 characters)

Wow what a beautiful beer,poured with a huge head great color.Felt like I needed a cigar and a brandy snifter,alcoholic smell with a slight fruit tinge.Tasted alcohol soon as it hit taste buds,a little syrupy but thats to be expected.Only a little fruity tast was apparent other than alcohol.As it warmed alcohol taste creeped up even more,nice to drink before bed. (365 characters)

Appearance  Very clear and florescent orange in color with no head, which is typical of the style.

Smell  Alcohol-soaked malt and apples first come to mind, followed by a deeper sense of toasted malts and some other fruits, such as prunes and dates.

Taste  This is the original, Ice Beer, having water removed by first freezing the ale.

The flavors are very intense to this one. The malty apple has a huge dose of alcohol and is perfectly blended, although Im sure the booze will be too much for most except true Eisbock fans (and gin-drinking alcoholics). The flavors are just as complex as the nose insinuates, making this one a joy to sip.

Mouthfeel  Extremely smooth as is customary of the style through the freezing process. The body is a little bigger than medium, and the alcohol sting will keep you from drinking too fast.

Drinkability  Well, if you dont like the style than you wont like this bottle. But, if you can appreciate the high alcohol and incredible smoothness that results from icing a bock beer, this is one of the better offerings. (1,088 characters)

Picked up a little bottle of this last night at the Essen Haus. A bargain at $4 if you ask me. This is quite a beer.

Pours that dark orange-copper color that screams so quintessentially that this is a German Doppelbock or Eisbock. Head is initially thick and tan but it doesnt have much of a life span and before to long descends to just a very thin clinging lace. Not much carbonation. Seems to be an old bottle.

Aroma is quite pungent, primarily of boozy dark fruit tons, and tons of prunes/rum raison but also some cherries. Very boozy but it does manage to give one the idea that they might find a heck of a lot of malt in this brew from the hints of caramel that rise with the alcohol notes.

Thick, soothing, chewy feel. Highly viscous. Somewhat sweet. Primary flavor is booze soaked dark fruit but the caramel malts are also quite nice. Reminds me a little bit of Optimator. Also, many beers are described a vinous but this one seems more like Cognac then wine.

Not very drinkable for me. If I want a lot of dark fruit boozy flavors Ill probably go the Baltic porter route. This is a nice beer but it just doesnt stand up to the eisbocks Im used to drinking from New Glarus, Capital, The Dane, and Aventinus. (1,236 characters)

Taste: Thick, full-bodied, syrupy and luscious on the palate. Luckily this is broken up by the lively carbonation for some balance. First flavour to emerge is a rather spicy (and warming) alcohol that delivers one hell of a kick to the palate, then the head. Malt comes next, and it's massive, rich and sweet with a caramel, milky chocolate and candied backbone. Strong oak and vanilla flavours are also present, along with a sort of date / fig sweetness. Juicy fruit flavours (all kinds: apple, pineapple, mango, honeydew mellon, etc) follow, then a buttery bicuity malt character soothes the palate into the finish. Bitterness is there, but it seems to smooth in with all of the other flavours, offering a much needed flavour balance to counter the sweet and strong malts.

Notes: This is a beer to be sipped, savoured and respected. For the style, it's also very well balanced and perhaps one of the best eisbocks I've ever tasted. Powerful. Complex. Balanced. Tasty. Hell yeah! (1,395 characters)

Presentation: It was poured from a brown 11.2oz bottle into a small mug. The label lists the abv at 11% and there is a short description on the back.

Appearance: The body has a rich deep amber colored body with good clarity. On top, the head is small and fades quickly. It leaves only a small patch of thin lacy bubbles. This is all very slick and no lace sticks to the glass at all.

Smell: The aroma is interesting and not exactly what I had expected, in a good way. I get a slightly buttery note with some candy like (grape sucker) sweetness backing it up. There is only a very slight hop note way off in the background.

Taste/Palate: The flavor reminds me somewhat of a fortified wine. There is a mild alcoholic warmth throughout with notes of wine grapes and grape candy sweetness within a big malty body. Again as in the aroma, the hops are distant and offer very little bitterness. The palate is what I would expect with its carbonation and mouth feel are right on for the style.

11.2 oz slender brown bottle with a foiled top, a freshness date is printed on the front label. On the back label is a somewhat disturbing picture of a drunk German man pointing at his stein.

Deep copper hue, very clear with a head that disappears quickly, I guess the more this ages the more the head takes a hit. As I poured it the carbonation struggles to reach the top.

Straight up clean alcohol with a huge ripe fruit aroma, rum raisin comes to mind as well as over ripe apples. An underlying caramel note show that there is a huge maltiness within.

Mouth feel is creamy beyond belief, carbonation is still intact with a viscous rolling feeling as it caresses the palate. Thick on malt, big on sweetness but not out of balance at all. The alcohol rips through the mouth with a big fruity ester and solvent character that does not go overboard. Hops are there but very faint. Fruitiness is really ripe with slight banana and apple sweetness. Malt comes back with a thick syrup caramel flavour as the alcohol bursts again in a spicy kind of way. Finishes sweet with waves of alcohol fumes leaving the mouth and warming the body.

I gauged the head retention to be that way knowing it would be like that so I was not too disappointed, the aroma is simply amazing and the flavour crushed my palate for the rest of the night. As for the alcohol, this is a night cap brew. I’ll save the other bottle to have around the winter holidays. (1,439 characters)

11.2 oz bottle served slightly chilled. Pours a clear orange/red color with no head and no lacing. A very pretty color, but looks more like a sherry than a beer.
Aroma is powerful, with vinous alcohol very obvious. Caramel, molasses, and all kinds of dark fruits front a huge malt profile.
Mouthfeel is silky smooth, but awash with alcohol presence.
Taste reveals little, or no carbonation, alcohol warming, and all kinds of big malty flavors. This is one to be sipped slowly, at room temperature, in order to enjoy the complexity of the layers of malt swirling through this enormously powerful brew. It has the delicate feel of a fine, oak aged bourbon, only much sweeter. Not at all cloying, but not a beverage you're going to be able to finish in less than 25 minutes.
A very interesting Eisbock, with a superior and highly complex taste. Low drinkability, as this is much more like a liquore than a beer. Ideal for sipping in front of the fireplace on a cold, winter night, out of a brandy snifter. (1,011 characters)

On tap at the Collins bar in NYC. This strong brew pours a glowing/shimmering shade of dark leather. Clear, with an off white minimal head, well developed and thick/frothy lacing. Nose is buttery malt and alcohol, sweet alcohol. This is a pleasingly bracing beer. Nice smooth mouthfeel. Alcohol is quite evident. Notes of juniper, smoke, more butter and alcohol. Warming, heady stuff, cant say the 11% is "well hidden" but for the strong livered, this is a fine sipper (468 characters)

Thanks to deBeers for this one...solid trader.
Pours a beautiful bright mahogany with two full fingers of off-white head which fizzles away to just a fine layer within minutes.
The smell is terrific...a boatload of cherries, some raisins, and sweet red grapes.
Taste is enjoyable...heavily malted to sweeten this one up, but not too much. A nice dose of hops to add a slight bitterness and the alcohol does show up in the flavor.
Mouthfeel is medium bodied and the carbonation could be a bit lower...either way, this is a sipper and perfect for this time of year. This one warms you up nicely and lets you know to respect the abv. Another solid offering from Kulmbacher. (674 characters)

Malt and alcohol. Sweet, but not overly so. Proves that you don't need to cram a ton of hops into a beer to make it tasty and satisfying. If there was a such thing as Samichlaus Light, I imagine it would taste like this. Try it if you can find it. (247 characters)

Pours clear mahogany with a tiny off-white head. Soapy, prune and raisins aroma, with heavy ethyl. Unusually viscous feeling in the mouth, which only makes the beer taste heavier. It tastes like overripe apples and raisins. Second and third swigs did not improve my feelings. Very disappointed. I let the drain sample the rest. (327 characters)

EKU 28 has really become one of my new favorites. I enjoy a strong, challenging beer at times but not something that will give me a headache.

If you see an EKU 28 grab 1 or 2. It will put you DOWN! It's a really tranquilizing beer, but clean, so no headaches or other unwanted side effects. It can be a little pricey but worth every penny. It has so many rich flavors. Dark, earthy fruit notes seem to push forward the most, but this is not a sweet beer necessarily. The flavor intensifies as it warms in the glass, and the last sip tends to be divine in my opinion. Drink from a chalice or even wine glass for sure. The color is a decadent rouge/ molasses. (665 characters)

I'm updating my previous review because my recent bottles of EKU 28 are better than what I described in my previous rating...

Big malty/toffee aroma you pretty much only get from a true German bock brew. Very, VERY nice! Actually, there's also a strong fruitiness which you don't get all that often in a German lager. Even so, it's a "clean" fruitiness so you know it's still a lager. Beautiful amber color with a slight head, but one that seems to stick around. After pouring it into a glass, the appearance and aroma of this brew just make me want to immediately take a sip! Carbonation is decent and appropriate for the style, but some previous bottles have been too low. Flavor is a malt assault on the tongue combined with some heat from the alcohol. The flavor improves on the aroma with a huge malty/toffee explosion on the tongue. I get ripe fruits...perhaps some apple, but even more I'm getting some beautiful ripe pear flavors. Have you ever forked over the money to buy some Harry and David's Royal Riviera pears? They're expensive, but ohhh so good...nature's candy! Anyway, I definitely get some of that great, ripe, Oregon pear character in this brew. When I first tasted this beer ten years ago, I wasn't crazy about it. Now, it's one of my (occasional) favorites. It's not something I would drink often, but I love to keep some on hand for the times when I'm in the mood...and it seems to hold up incredibly well in my fridge for long periods of time. There's no denying EKU 28 is a malty brew...even for German standards, yet it still has a nice, clean-fermented lager taste. Even though the malt character is strong, I don't think this brew goes too far with its maltiness. Take Vetter 33 on tap in Heidelberg for comparison. Vetter 33 is too over-the-top malty, and has way too much of an unfermented malt-syrup taste. EKU 28 on the other hand, is much more drinkable and thoroughly fermented. I really enjoy this brew, but I can imagine that some don't because it's a bit extreme. EKU 28 has definitely become a brew I've come to love over the years. If you disagree that's okay, that just leaves more for me! (2,131 characters)

Some classify this brew as an "Eisbock" (6/14/02 now, it is, style categories changed at this site)...poured it in a Pilsner glass, pretty dark amber, but clear. Head is just a spidery trace after 20 seconds. Raisiny, clovey, sweet aromas, hints of alcohol. Prune, cinnamon, and sugar flavors, a coating mouthfeel in the extreme. Alcohol has most kick on the swallow. Lots of spice and subtle flavor alterations. The brew is just too sticky for me, just saved from cloying by some slight citrus hints. Heavy duty stuff, I'll take it over a sherry, but wouldn't call it drinkable in quantity unless you have the next day off. (631 characters)